Devil and the Lawyer, The

DESCRIPTION: "The devil came up to the earth one day, And into a courthouse he wended is way" as a lawyer was making his case." When he is done, the other lawyer starts talking. The Devil concludes that he dares not allow lawyers in Hell; they would "ruin its morals"AUTHOR: unknown (Hubbard's informant James Jepson set the tune)EARLIEST DATE: 1917 (text in "The International Bookbinder," vol. XVIII, available on Google Books); traditional version 1947 (Hubbard)KEYWORDS: Devil Hell humorous lawyerFOUND IN: US(Ro)REFERENCES (1 citation):Hubbard, #176, "The Devil and the Lawyer" (1 text, 1 tune)Roud #10922NOTES [39 words]: This reminds me very faintly of Chaucer's "Friar's Tale," although the ending is very different (in the Friar's Tale, it is a summoner who is corrupt, and he eventually is taken to Hell). I strongly doubt literary dependence, though. - RBWLast updated in version 3.8File: Hubb175